Embarrassing Illnesses

Earwax is produced by tiny sweat glands in your ear canal, which are known as ceruminous glands. The earwax forms a protective coating inside your ear canal, which traps dust and other tiny objects and prevents them from entering the delicate interior of your ear.

Earwax plug

Some people produce more earwax than others. It usually falls out of your ear gradually, in small pieces or flakes. However, in some cases earwax can build up, harden and form a blockage called a 'plug'.

If you have an earwax plug, it can cause slight discomfort and loss of hearing as your ear canal becomes blocked.

Hearing loss is often blamed on earwax but, in some cases, it may be caused by something else. However, if you have an excessive amount of earwax, any hearing impairment that you have may improve once the blockage is removed.

Discomfort and earache

As well as a physical feeling that something is blocking your ear, if you have a build-up of earwax, you may experience the following symptoms:

• discomfort in your ear,
• earache,
• tinnitus: noises in your ear that come from an internal source,
• itchiness, and
• vertigo: the sensation that you are spinning even when you are standing still. Not all experts believe that earwax causes vertigo.

In rare cases, you may also have a cough that is caused by the stimulation of a nerve inside your ear. This occurs as the result of increased pressure created by the impacted earwax.